it has taken me 2 days to snap back to reality and face the fact that he has passed. he will truely be missed. John was one of the main driving forces(as well as many others here) behind me making the decision to persue another career as a helo pilot. although i didn't know him face to face, i feel like i have lost a life long friend. he was ALWAYS there with information and suggestions, and expressed those ideas with such enthusiasm and a willingness to help. my family and i extend our sincere sympathies and condolences to johns family, friends and co-workers.

John taught us all about being professional, he reflected that in all of his posts.
he taught many of us many things everytime he posted his comments, you learned something everytime you read his posts no matter how minor.

To Lisa, John's Wife, his love for you was a dedicated love, he has your equine web site in his bio for all the world to see, he would have not put it there if he was not a person that was as dedicated to you and everything he did to the fullest extent of his devotion to everything he loved and enjoyed.

His manner and conduct is a testament to his devotion to the things he loved.

Godspeed to you John, the wisdom of your posts shall live on.

fly safe everyone, find a place to put a memorial to John where ever you may be.

Although my hopes and prayers were that John was skiing somewhere in Colorado when his helicopter crashed, I think in my heart I knew it was him. I had a bad night thinking about what might have happened. But today I am happy because I had the privilege to have known him as both a professional pilot and as a personal friend. And I am glad to know that they were able to find the wreckage and bring John back home for his family. I hope that God will bring comfort to Johnís wife and family, and pray that he will watch over all those who take to the skies. I know that a little bit of John will always be in the cockpit with me whenever I fly.

I knew John as student at HAI and did a bit of recruiting to bring him down to Era in the GOM. I've been holding off posting because I can't find the words to describe how I feel at the moment. I had the good fortune to spend the evening with his mom and sister and got to share a lot of stories I wouldn't have otherwise heard, and the same for them. I told them about this thread and about various postings being made about him and they will be visiting them soon. They said that this is helping them understand how John lived and opening them up to a bit more of his world. A memorial will be planned in the future, they were talking maybe in the spring in Vermont where he and his wife met. I will post details as I get them. It's very fuzzy at the moment foe everyone, but again, all the kind words are being felt. I only wish Flingwing could add his own to the thread. When more facts surface I will pass on what I can. Thanks,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Like a lot of other people here I never met the man in person, but his posts were always good and thought-provoking reading. My condolences go out to the family - I can't imagine what you are going through but I know that "Fling" had a bunch of friends and kindred souls here and on PPRune - he was respected by everyone in both forums I think..

Based on what I saw in a Powerpoint set of photos that Fling had posted, he truly loved what he did. As a far-away observer, I take some comfort in that.

I first met John at HAI when we were both taking our CFI and CFII together. We found immediately that we had a lot in common, we had both given up good stable careers (he a ski instructor and me in Sales and Marketing) to pursue our love of flying. Since that date we were good friends. I quickly found John to be a very knowledgeable person, who took that knowledge of helicopters and applied it to well thought out points of view on all aspects of flying and teaching.
In CFI class we competed - he stood out for his excellent technical knowledge and drew on his experience as a ski instructor to convey what he knew to pupils. I drew on my flair from Sales to produce a less factual but equally enjoyable lesson. At the time we joked about competing for the 'top slot'. We both took our CFI rides with the same examiner on subsequent days, and then worked together on the CFII, passing those at the same time too. By the time CFI had finish we were firm friends working together.
We would have both loved to teach at HAI, but fate dealt us another card and I ended up teaching in New Jersey, he in Minnesota. We kept in contact often, sharing experiences with teaching and helping each other with solving the best way to convey something. We both shared the same conviction that flying was great, but we would never compromise our safety or standards to get in the air. I know John had refused to fly aircraft before if he didn't think he - or his pupils were safe. We both still loved to teach, and we both kept teaching for over 2 years (unusual in itself I guess). He was my encouragement to write my book and I looked forward to our telephone conversations. We also kept in contact via another internet group.
Fate struck again when we both applied to work at ERA at the same time. By some twist, John recieved an interview while my application got caught up with the old Chief Pilot and never made it to the pile until I had already accepted a job with PHI.
We both started in the GOM last summer, and from our phone calls we both loved it. Sure, it was turbine time, but neither of us were really time builders - we wanted the slow and steady route- perhaps to something else, perhaps not. I know John perhaps wanted to end up with a news crew in Colorado. The last time I spoke to John he was very happy. I know he loved his wife very much and was more than satisfied with his work, the training he got there and the aircraft he flew. He was looking forward to keeping a schedule and a job that would allow more time with his wife and family.
John was not just a kind man, a good friend, a great instructor and a perfect Role model. John Lancaster was kind, caring, attentive, knowledgeable and a man of complete integrity. Able to admit if he was wrong, change his opinion if persuaded and produce his own well thought out prose at the drop of a hat, John has helped many a student via this website and in his own work accomplish their dreams whilst completing his.
I was devestated to learn of John death as I drove to work yesterday. Missing John will be an understatement, as has happened to me before, you never learn to appreciate how much someone has affected your life, and let them know it until it is too late. There is a little comfort in knowing that John now rests in a better place. I wish he was still with us, as I know do you all. My coldolances to Lisa and his family. John will continue to be remembered at least in my heart.
God Bless you John
Damien Lloyd Payne

Looks like John not only made friends here, but on every aviation board he frequented. There is a similiar thread on Pilots of America, http://www.pilotsofa...ead.php?t=12188. Someone even posted a picture...

I don't know what to say other than I feel for his family. I wish you all the best in moving forward.

Like most here, I never met John other than through his posts. How exactly is it one can be so touched by someone they have never met? Just another testament to John's character, I'm sure!!!

I've been trying to decide what to say for the last 3 days. I'm still not even sure what I want to say. Reading all the posts here and on other forums, it seems like John had a huge impact on all of aviation. It takes a special person to have that kind of effect on so many people. John was incredibly knowledgeable, and did a service beyond comprehension for all of us here, and on many other forums. He will truly be missed. Not just for what he did, but for how selflessly he did it.

--Doug Craig

Basic Flying Rules: "Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there."

"Flying the helicopter is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."

I hear you PhotoFlyer, I posted one message the other day and it just doesn't seem like enough can be said about John and I wish there was more I can do. I'm still in shock over this and find myself looking back at pictures that I have of John with his newbie student pilot (me) and reflecting back on the conversations we had. After reading some of these posts I didn't realize John made such an impact with the online community and it makes me even more proud that I was fortunate to have him as my instructor. I now know I learned how to fly from one of the best and the only thing I can do is to honor John by continuing to fly and learn.

Hello all-
I am new to VR, as I'm a fixed winger... But John Lancaster has been a good friend for over 20 years. He and I worked together as ski instructors for Vail Resorts. As I had gotten my SEL/MEL COMM before he left Vail, we talked of flying and his interest in it, all the time!

Many of you may not know what he did, prior to attending flight training, but he was a top pro in the ski industry. He was a supervisor of training for a group of about 300 ski instrs, a trainer and Examiner for the Professional Ski Instructors of America, Rocky Mtn Division, and a key member of the Education Committee of that same org.

He was as highly regarded in that career as he obviously (having read your generous comments about him here) was in this industry. Many of his friends are on another ski related site, <www.epicski.com>. The terrible news of his unfortunate passing is still just getting out among his peers.

I received this news last night. It shook me a bit, as John and I have been in pretty close contact since my arrival in Houston. We shared many stories about flying our respective aircraft, and the other things pilots tend to BS about.

In one of his recent letters to me, he expressed his interest in getting back into to ski teaching, part time. Since he was on a 14/14 schedule, and living in Denver during his off time, he was excited to exercise his passion for skiing once again!

We discussed the changes that we had seen over our years together in Vail, the way the industry had changed, and he told how wonderful it felt to go skiing, if only on a small hill in the Mid-West, after his broken ankle a few years ago. It had been his only on-snow experience during the several years he was doing his flight training.

He wrote in glowing terms about his wife, Lisa, and the Vet business she is developing in Denver. I hadn't seen her in a very long time. My heart goes out to her, and I share her sadness.

I will miss him, knowing we will never make another turn together, knowing we will never share another flying story, and the ski and aviation industries are both poorer for his loss.

As we signed off every letter,

Fly Safe!

Thank you for letting me share a memory of John with you all. I will check on the memorial thread I see has been started.

Whoa!
I like to pop in and read what is going on in the RW world from the VR forum standpoint. Its been a while since since I checked in. What a time to come back.
I never knew FlingWing but I remember his Avatar . I also remember his contributions to the VR forums were many and respected.
As a fellow RW pilot and VR forum reader, I feel a sense of duty to convey my condelences to John and his family.

Matthew

....and on the eighth day God created the Helicopter and saw that it was good.....

I spoke with my sister Lisa tonight, and I was telling her about all these posts, and all the things people were saying, and she was SO appreciative. She isn't at a point where she can read these posts herself yet, but that day will come. She did ask me to post a message here (and anyone please feel free to repost this in other threads/forums about John), requesting that if you have the time, please copy/paste your posts from this board and re-post on the GuestBook at www.johnlancastermemorial.com This will ensure that we capture and archive these comments and postings for ever, in one central place.